Cardinal Mooney girls basketball advances to state title game

Will the third time be the charm?

The Cardinal Mooney High girls basketball team hopes so. 

The Cougars (21-5) defeated King's Academy 52-39 on Wednesday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland to advance to the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A state championship game for the third-straight year. They will play Miami Country Day School (24-7), who beat the Cougars in the 2021 title game, at 10 a.m. Saturday in Lakeland.

Sophomore guard Bri Behn led the Cougars with 17 points against King's Academy, while Olivia Davis, the team's lone senior, added 14 points. Mooney's tight defense was a deciding factor; the Cougars limited King's Academy to two points in the third quarter. 

Miami Country Day is the No. 1 ranked team in the class according to MaxPreps while Mooney is No. 3.